Follow the progress of Richard (aka Matchstick Man) live in the forums as he prepares to run a sub-3:15 marathon under the guidance of mentor Liz Yelling
|
|
Age: 36
Running for: 4 years
No. of marathons: 3
|
|
| PB for 10K: 39:31 Half-Marathon: 1:27 Marathon 3:19 |
| Strengths: Fitting in training while juggling a young family; pushing hard in races; staying focused on a big end goal. |
| Weaknesses: Not having the time to train more. |
| Did you know? Before I was a runner I was a keen amateur/club cyclist and have completed the Tour of Flanders sportif in Belgium. |
| Richard's Schedule | Richard's Training Thread | Richard's RW profile |
|
About Richard
Richard says: I started running in 2005 when my daughter was born. Before then I was a keen cyclist, but it soon became clear that cycling and families don't mix. I took up running so I could stay fit, and it snowballed from there. I love running because I can fit it into my life - I only have an hour for lunch, but I can do a quality session in that time. It's the simplicity of it too - all you need is trainers, shorts and a T-shirt.
I wanted to run a marathon because I did a great half-marathon time and realised I might be capable of sub-3:15. But every marathon I've done so far (three in total), I've just missed it. This time, it's really important to me to prove to that an average guy with a young family can run a fast marathon.
I'm really looking forward to working with Liz. I was thrilled when I found out she'd be my mentor, and we've already chatted about running as a parent. I haven't really had anyone to talk to about running before, so it's absolutely diamond to have an Olympic athlete on hand! For Liz to analyse my gait, for example, and watch me run – it's absolute gold dust.
Liz says: Richard is busy man! Juggling family, work and training can sometimes be an issue even without trying to run a marathon (and a fast one at that!) and I know just how Richard feels. Family time is really important and being a father to two young children - his son being just three and a half months old - will be a key priority. Time will be of the essence and we will have to be creative with key sessions, make important runs matter and nail time-efficient, productive running.
Richard runs to and form work and manages to clock up an impressive 50 miles a week when in peak marathon training. Otherwise, he usually simmers at around 25 miles per week. His impressive goal of sub-3:15 is going to take some considered thinking on his part (and mine) as his goal has eluded him on several occasions previously. As you improve and achieve relative levels of personal excellence, it becomes much harder to nudge those final minutes and seconds and is about so much more than just running. Let's hope I can provide Richard with a few gems and nuggets for him to build into his plan to help him achieve his goal.
